Customer Reviews
(1 review)

Beware! For yours and your family's safety! Our 22-year-old daughter took her car to Crown Ford for routine maintenance (oil change/tire rotation, picked up 8/4/14) and 12 days later on 8/16/14, her brakes went out due to the brake fluid being contaminated with another fluid. She had noticed shortly after picking it up that the brakes seemed less responsive and, while driving downtown, they completely gave out. Thankfully, she thought quickly enough to pull up the emergency brake and avoid serious danger. At that time, she had no idea what was going on, but after immediately returning it to Crown, they said the brake fluid had been contaminated by another fluid, and her car would require replacement of the whole braking system at a cost of $2,557.12! Flushing the system was not an option because they weren't sure what was in there and, for safety reasons, everything had to be replaced--master cylinder, rear wheel cylinder, calipers, control module, hoses. I called the service department because NO ONE had lifted the hood of that car other than certified Ford dealerships. It is a used car--2012 Ford Fiesta with less than 30k miles--that was purchased at a Ford dealership near our home, Vic Bailey Ford in Spartanburg, SC, only a few months ago in May 2014, after going through their complete service check. Our daughter recently moved to Nashville, so when it came time for her first oil change and tire rotation, she took it to Crown. She had absolutely no problems until then. It is still under warranty, but this will not be covered because it's not a manufacture's defect. Our insurance company will not cover it unless it is obvious vandalism, which it's not. I told Crown's service department manager , Rob, the contamination had to have taken place at their shop. He said he understood my frustration and knew that, if he were me, how this would look, but Crown could not take responsibility for it. After making numerous calls to other Ford dealerships, including where it was purchased in SC, and our local dealership, Stott's Ford, in Tryon, NC, that is owned by friends, we had it towed to another Nashville Ford dealership, Two Rivers Ford, for a second opinion. They agreed that the brake system will need to be replaced, but gave a much lower price of $1825.02 plus a free rental car. All of the other dealerships --Two Rivers Ford (TN), Vic Bailey Ford (SC), and Stott's Ford (NC)-- agreed that this was a "fishy" situation. Even if Crown, for legal reasons, didn't want to own up to the contamination, they could have at least said, "Hey, we aren't taking responsibility for this, but under these circumstances, we want to make sure your daughter is well taken care of." They could have offered to make the repairs at their shop for free and absorb the costs themselves, or at least charged a very minimum for parts only. There are many things they could have done to help with this but instead, they quoted a very high repair cost, and told us they couldn't offer her a loaner car while they looked at it. She had to scramble to find a ride back and forth to her job. The only recourse we have is to at least let the public know to stay away! Even if you purchase a car from them, you'll likely, at some point, need it serviced there, so don't do ANY business with them, for your own safety! I'm including my work number and will be glad to validate that what I've written here is true. The number is (864) 457-4544, and I am Terri, the Office Manager, so just ask the secretary for me.